Asbo for torment deaths accused

Fiona Pilkington's requests for help were not properly answered

A boy whose family was accused of abusing a woman who went on to kill herself and her daughter has been given an anti social behaviour order (Asbo).

Alex Simmons, 16, of Bardon Road, Barwell, Leicestershire, is one of four people to be given Asbos.

The orders were applied for after local residents complained of being abused and spat at by youths in the area.

Fiona Pilkington died with her daughter Francecca in a burning car in 2007 following a decade of torment.

Anthony Thorne, 17, of Bardon Road, Josh Thorne, 16, of the same address, and Billy Kenney, 20, of Elwell Avenue, Barwell, were also given orders.

In October 2007, Ms Pilkington, 38, set fire to the family's car while she and her 18-year-old daughter sat inside.

House pelted

Their deaths came after the family were abused by a gang of youths on their street in Barwell, Leicestershire, for more than a decade.

In September, a coroner criticised Leicestershire Police and Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council for failing to help the struggling mother.

The hearing was told Ms Pilkington contacted police 33 times in 10 years after she, Francecca and her son Anthony, now 19, were tormented by a mob of up to 16 youths, some as young as ten.

Their house was regularly pelted with eggs, flour and stones, while on one occasion the gang shouted at Francecca, who had the mental age of a four-year-old, to lift up her nightdress as she went to bed.

Anthony was often beaten up or verbally abused, once being locked in a shed at knifepoint by the gang.

During the inquest, Alex Simmons' family were held partly responsible for the abuse the family suffered prior to 2007.

Shortly after the deaths, his father Steven, 43, and mother Suzanne, 44, were made subject of an injunction which meant they could be arrested if Alex Simmons, or his two younger brothers aged 15 and 12, stepped out of line.

The hearing which issued the Asbos to the four youths was told some of the gang continued to cause problems two years on, often screaming late into the night, spitting at neighbours and hurling abuse at anyone who challenged them,

The orders are in place until the youths return to court for a full hearing on 25 January and ban them from associating with each other in a public place in the borough.